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Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Wait! Something's happening

"...sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how."

I don't know if I would have made such a good farmer. I mean, they spend their days tilling the soil, pulling weeds, sowing seeds and waiting...

Waiting... watering...

Waiting...

Watering... waiting...

They can't see what is going on with the seed. They know that something is going on but absolutely nothing is visible until that little green shoot pushes its way through the surface.. voilà! (meaning 'There it is!')

If I had to be a farmer then those would be the moments that I would live for. The only problem is that they are not exactly an every day occurrence. I think about the rest of the time and it seems boring, without purpose. A part of me wants constant excitement. I want to feel progress, a sense of achievement. I want to feel it all the time. But life doesn't work that way, does it?

How many times in a lifetime do you graduate from college, get married, have a baby, win a big competition, meet the man of your dreams, get that dream promotion, hold your first grandchild in your arms, etc.? These (for me) kind of represent moments of similar thrill to those when that little green shoot breaks through the surface. We can easily become entangled in chasing after those moments like a coke addict after his next fix. "If I can just graduate then I'll be happy, or when I get that promotion then I'll be happy, or if I could just meet Mr Right..." But what about the rest of life? That is where the challenge lies for me (and I'm convinced I'm not the only one).

It is so easy to forget that every moment, every event - big or small - is really only one moment in the grand scheme of things, and each moment is connected to every other moment that will follow - it might even be necessary, like building blocks. In the grand scheme of things it is not about any one moment, but the end result of a lifetime of moments. How easily we forget that it is one big journey.

We will inevitably spend more of our life learning, growing, preparing, and yes, waiting. And so there will be times when we'll feel like we're doing all we can and we can't see the results - that viola moment when it feels like things are coming together. We'll be expected to keep going when it feels like our efforts are in vain. We'll be expected to keep thinking about the expected harvest when we see nothing but soil on the horizon. And - most of the time - we'll be expected to do all without knowing or understanding why.

Then, like the farmer, we'll be expected to sit on the porch after every possible human effort of toiling in the sun, to keep our eye on that horizon knowing that something. is. happening - whether it feels like it or not - and to not despise the process. In fact, to lean into it, trusting the ultimate Farmer, the One who begins where we end, the One who is able to do abundantly above all that we could even dare to ask, think, hope for or dream of.

"Now to Him who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [ infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]" Ephesians 3:20 (Amp)

So if you've scattered your seed, then go ahead, sleep by night and rise by day. Keep doing what you know to do and trust that the seed should sprout and grow, even if you yourself do not know how.